“Our teams are working on them, and you should be able to leave tomorrow. Varn, you were lucky. If that had been your Racer’s original configuration, you’d be dead,” Barnes advised him.
Varn was white. “Don’t remind me.”
Jinx was near the exit, not willing to come inside.
“Excuse me, guys. I’ll be back.” I left Jade talking with one of the technicians, and met Jinx at the doors. “Can we speak?”
Jinx didn’t break his gaze on the floor. “Sure, Hawk.”
We entered the hallway on the lower Station deck. The alarms were shut down, but a squadron of Protector transports waited in space, surrounding the Defenders in case another attack was coming. “You realize that anyone would have reacted like that.”
“I threw up, Hawk. I was useless. I’ve spent most of my life hiding in a cramped room. Four walls. Being out there…” He pointed up. “It’s not natural to me.”
“You’ll come around.” I slowly walked, and he kept pace.
“No, I won’t. I’m pretending everything is okay, but I’m not well. You can shove all the meds down my throat, but I’m still the same man.” Jinx stopped, and I faced him in the corridor.
“Can I tell you a story?”
He shrugged. “Why not?”
“My first flight in a Pod, I puked.” I laughed, and he cracked a grin.
“Seriously?”
“Oh yeah. It was terrible. Inside my helmet. I made such a mess.”
“What did you do?” Jinx asked.
“My grandfather cleaned it up and made me go again.” I’d forgotten about that day until now. Once I recalled it, I could see the blue sky, the wispy clouds, smell the fresh-cut grass.
“Did you fight him on it?”
“No, because he always knew best. And guess what?” I patted him on the shoulder.
“You never threw up again?”
“I wish. It happened three more times during my first month of training, but I didn’t that second run. I finished the track, and when I was done, my grandfather was waiting for me with a cold soda and enough praise to keep me flying the next day.” My smile faded as I thought about who he’d become.
“Fine. I’ll stay.” Jinx met my gaze. “Thanks. You’re the only one that’s ever listened to me.”
“Do you still think I can’t trust anyone?” I asked him.
“Most definitely.”
“Even you?”
“Depends on how much sleep I’ve had,” he said. Jinx was back.
____________
We knew next to nothing about Refuge, except that it was our destination. There was a distinct chance someone was waiting for us with an ambush.
“Still no response?” I asked Jade as we flew away from the Belt.
It had ended up taking two full days to repair Killer, and the technicians were unable to determine the robot attackers’ origin. Their programming appeared to be wired to fry the moment their ships’ Cores were disabled. It was a smart move.
“I’ll keep sending communications, but they’re not answering.” Jade rolled the blue sleeves of her SeaTech uniform up to her elbows.
“Okay, is everyone ready to test the drives?” I asked. We’d gone over the faster-than-light mods during the last few weeks, and we were all aware of the changes. Jade hopped to her feet, climbing from the cockpit. She was heading to engineering, since this was our debut use of the FTL Core. Jade would be prepared to cut it off manually at the first sign of trouble.
“Varn, everything set?” I pressed the comms and asked.
“Killer is prepared for the journey.” Varn was a little less conversational since he’d nearly been murdered by an iniquitous robot, but he was coming around.
“Good. Let’s begin the trek.” My dash glowed softly as I adjusted the Core drive, choosing the second option. Faster than light was something pilots had discussed for as long as space travel had existed, and to find out that the Board was holding on to the technology in secret was a shock. But it was the only way to reach Refuge in a timely fashion.
I checked with Luther and R11. “Everyone strapped in?”
“We’re all set,” Luther answered.
“Yes, Captain,” R11 said. “Thought I am not a weak organic—”
“Okay, save it for later,” I told the robot. “Time to shine.”
Red light flashed over the viewscreen, and for one breath, we didn’t increase past the in-system speed we were traveling. Then the drive kicked in. I watched the distance on the radar increase, and the map zoomed out to accommodate our intense velocity.
“It worked!” I called. “Jade, are we good on your front?”
“Roger that, Arlo. All systems a go in engineering. She’s purring like a kitten.” Jade sounded thrilled.
I checked to see Varn’s Racer behind us on the radar. In three weeks, we’d reach Refuge and learn who was out there, and how we could work together.
The silence on the bridge made me miss having Holland on the crew. Always watching the Race feeds, talking endlessly about his aspirations.
And now the heir to SeaTech was gone. But not forgotten.
____________
A week and a half passed without complications. Our small crew was growing used to the mission, settling into our roles as we travelled beyond humanity’s reach. Each second that flew by marked the farthest a human craft had ventured behind our barriers.
We’d kept up a constant exchange with Killer for the first few days, and on the eleventh day of our journey, Jinx reached out.
“Jade, can you double check something for me?” he asked over the viewscreen. I hardly recognized the man after he’d started taking medication. He was focused on the proper tasks, excited to be included in this imperative mission.
“I’m ready, Jinx,” Jade told him.
Jinx scratched his head, looking perplexed. “I’ve managed to adjust the sensors I used to track the Velibar drones, and I’m receiving a blip.”
This caught my interest. “Out here?” I checked the radar. We were almost twenty-five light years from home already, and in a binary star system. The nearly identical red dwarfs burned hotly, and I located the single planet in the region.
“It’s coming from the other side of the planet. I’m
